A/N: Wow, Thanksgiving went by fast for me o.o; I hope you all enjoyed it though! Lotsa turkey and mashed taters and all that good stuff : )

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: The demon's family

"Kagome!" Inuyasha called for what felt like the thousandth time. "Where are you?" After Kagome's fall the youkai they had been battling seemed to have gone down rather easily. Too easily, in fact.

"There's no sign of her, she must have been swept further down," Sango murmured to Miroku as the two followed behind.

"Have you picked up her scent yet, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, watching as the hanyou carefully sniffed the air.

"Her scent is very faint," he replied "but I'm also picking up a familiar whiff of demon." Where have I smelled this demon scent before? He asked himself as he followed the scent down the bank of the river. More than one demon…there's a kappa and a two-headed dragon, but what's the third?

"I found some tracks!" Shippo called from farther ahead. He pointed to the small human footprints that were mixed in with kappa prints.

"These feet are too small to be Kagome's, they must belong to a child," Miroku remarked as he and Sango dismounted Kirara.

"Look at these, they look like…shoe prints?" said Sango with a slight frown.

"Damnit, I just don't get it!" yelled Inuyasha, punching the ground in frustration. "Why the hell would a kid, a kappa, a two-headed dragon, and some shoe-wearing demon make off with Kagome?" But this scent…where've I smelled it before?

"The tracks seem to be leading this way, we'll follow them and then you can pick up the scent from there," said Miroku. He, Sango, and Shippo all mounted Kirara once more and followed the tracks into the woods.

Inuyasha's hand touched his wedding necklace for a moment. Stay safe, Kagome, he thought before running off after the others.

Kagome awoke to the sound of someone humming pleasantly to themselves. This confused her for a moment, for no one in her group of friends had been known to hum. Disturbed, she slowly rose to a sitting position and looked around. She was in a small house made of wood with a few touches of inhabitance here and there.

"Oh! You shouldn't been moving just yet, your wounds are really bad," someone reprimanded. That someone turned out to be a young girl with long and dark brown hair and large brown eyes. She smiled at the look on Kagome's face and finished tying a bandage around her arm. "You took a really big fall. I'm surprised that you survived, Miko-sama."

"How did you know that I'm a miko?" she asked curiously, wincing slightly as she raised her arm to scratch her head.

"Lord Sesshomaru told me so," was the reply with a smile and a shrug.

"Who's Lord Sesshomaru?"

"He's my master, and the greatest demon in the world! He took me in when I had no where else to go."

"A demon is your master?" Kagome exclaimed, thinking immediately of Koga and Ayame.

"Uh-huh, but don't worry, he's a kind demon. He protects me and keeps me alive and happy. I'm very grateful to him….oh! My name's Rin, by the way."

"Tell me, Rin, has he ever harmed you in any way?"

"Nope. Why would he harm me if he's trying to keep me safe?"

"Rin! Is that human better yet?" came a croaked voice from the doorway of the house. A kappa entered, wearing a black cap, a brown robe and pants, and carrying a two-headed staff.

"Of course not, Master Jaken," Rin giggled "it's going to take a while for her to heal."

"At this rate, Lord Sesshomaru will never be able to move on!" At this point Jaken sank to the floor with a rather depressed sigh.

"He took off again, didn't he?" Rin asked, a small tint of sadness in her voice as well. Jaken nodded and the room fell silent.

"I really should be getting back to my friends," Kagome said after a while.

"But you must stay here until your wounds heal!" Rin pleaded. "If you do too much in this condition then they'll get worse!"

"But my friends-my husband-" Kagome didn't know what to do. They must all be worried about me, especially Inuyasha…but how am I to get a message to them saying that I'm alright?

"Your husband is a half-dog demon, isn't he? Can't he find your scent?" Rin asked.

"How do you-?"

"Lord Sesshomaru told me so," she answered proudly.

"How does he know all these things?" Kagome asked, feeling rather suspicious of this Sesshomaru character.

"He's a dog demon, he has a good sense of smell too."

"I think I want to meet this guy and see just what he is," Kagome said. When Rin mentioned dog demon her thoughts immediately went to Inuyasha's father. But his name was InuTaisho…could Sesshomaru maybe be...? No, Inuyasha's mother was a human…he's probably just another dog demon with no relation at all.

"So, you have awakened," came a new voice, this one calm and rather seductive. Kagome's eyes darted to the source and she let an audible gasp escape her. It was a tall and extremely handsome demon with long silvery white hair (blah blah blah, we all know what he looks like by now).

"You've returned, Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin squealed, jumping to her feet and running up to him. The beautiful demon smiled warmly down at the girl and pulled her into an embrace.

"Did you miss me all that much, Rin?" he asked.

"Of course! And did you miss me?" she asked back.

"Yes, I did." He released her from the hug and then averted his gaze to Kagome. "So, you are Inuyasha's mate, are you not?"

"How is it that you know Inuyasha?" Kagome asked suspiciously, trying to stop herself from melting under the gaze of this beautiful being.

Sesshomaru chuckled to himself. "I thought you would have guessed, Miko-sama. Inuyasha is my half-brother."

This scent, I remember who it is! Inuyasha thought to himself as they ran through the forest. It's my brother's….it's Sesshomaru's!

A/N: Yay, go Fluffy! I love him so much: ) Yes, I'm making him nice and seductive in this fanfic, and he's actually gonna get along with Inuyasha! (unless I change my mind) Please leave me reviews:D